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CHICAGO – Chicago State limited Grand Canyon to only five field goals in the second half but fell 76-75 to the 'Lopes in a Western Athletic Conference contest on Thursday (Jan. 30) evening.
Chicago State fell behind by as many as 17 points in the opening half before trailing the 'Lopes 49-36 at the break. A swarming second half defensive effort limited GCU to 5-of-22 shooting in the final 20 minutes but the 'Lopes shot 16-of-28 from the free throw line to squeak out the victory.
The Cougars trailed for the majority of the game before finally tying the game at 64 with 6:03 on a 3-pointer by senior
Nate Duhon (Lansing, Mich./Sexton). Chicago State grabbed their first and only lead of the second half with 2:54 remaining on a drive to the basket by junior
Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township). Grand Canyon scored the next seven points to take control of the contest. Rosenberg fouled out on an offensive foul in the middle of the run.
Grand Canyon's 7-0 run was halted by a pull-up 3-pointer by senior
Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) with 46 seconds left to make the score 73-71 in favor of the 'Lopes.
Down the stretch it was Pippen again banking in a 3-pointer with four seconds left to make the score 76-75. GCU's Jerome Garrison proceeded to miss a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining. CSU grabbed the rebound, moved the ball to Pippen but his half court attempt at the buzzer clanked off the backboard.
Chicago State finished 25-of-68 (36.8 percent) from the floor, taking 17 more shots than New Mexico State who shot 23-of-51 (45.1 percent) for the game. The Cougars forced 16 turnovers while committing just six. Grand Canyon's Killian Larson scored 28 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. Meanwhile the Cougars grabbed just 33 rebounds as a team in the game. Grand Canyon played just two bench players but still outscored the Cougars' bench 12-8.
Offensively, Rosenberg led the Cougars with 25 points. He scored 17 in the second half with several baskets coming on drives to the hoop. Senior
Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
"I was proud of our guys' effort, we fell behind big but didn't give up," Chicago State head coach
Tracy Dildy said. "Give credit to Grand Canyon. The game really came down to key plays at key moments and they made them."
The Cougars are now 9-12 (4-3 WAC). Grand Canyon improves to 10-10 and 5-2 in the WAC. Thursday's meeting was the first ever game between the new conference rivals.
Chicago State takes more than a week off before hosting Kansas City on Saturday (Feb. 8). The men will play at 4:30 p.m. CT. The Chicago State women play Kansas City at 2 p.m in the first game of a doubleheader.
